ABSTRACT
There is increasing public and social/political interest in the environment and concern about issues such as: climate change (in particular, global warming); energy (the problem of the generation of energy, the burning of fossil fuels, and the issue of the use and abuse of nuclear energy); water (shortage and pollution); biodiversity and (unsustainable) land use; pollution (chemicals, toxics, heavy metals, water, air); waste management; the depletion of the ozone layer; overfishing; and deforestation (see Chapter 6). In this context, more and more therapists are becoming aware of the environment and environmental issues and concerns—an awareness informed by ecopsychology; that is, the study of human beings’ relationship with the ecosystem of which we are a part, and finds expression in different forms of ecotherapy, that is, of the various applications of ecopsychology to therapeutic practice, including therapeutic practice about and with the ecosphere. This chapter considers some of the theoretical and conceptual links between person-centred psychology and ecopsychology and their implications, adding to recent calls for a broader focus with the person-centred approach and person-centred therapy to take into account environmental context and ecopsychological perspectives.
